Altered
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: In an attempt at preventing a catastrophic injury, something went beyond wrong. With Amanda sidelined, how will things change? (AU from Royal Rumble 2016)
1. Something Gone Horrifically Wrong

She never imagined the Royal Rumble match ending like this for her…

Suplex off the top rope caving the ring in? It had happened before.

The ring rope snapping off?

Well worse happened in the Attitude Era that she grew up watching… hell, Mick Foley and Undertaker fell through the cell roof and through the ring itself nearly 18 years ago.

But being slammed into the barricade with too much force that a good portion of it broke? That was a new one to Amanda, inflicted onto her at least… and a traumatizing one, judging from the fans screams.

Amanda felt every bone in her right shoulder, arm, hand, fingers and thumb break and because the air had been driven out of her lungs, she couldn't scream… that didn't mean she wasn't trying to when she saw Kevin Owens and her eyes widened in terror.

But she didn't know that he was terrified too at what he had done to the tiny brunette.

Through her disoriented hearing, she could hear a familiar accent and through her blurred vision, she could see Kevin being punched and beaten up… another blurred figure broke up the beating, the red hair a dead giveaway as Sami pushed Kevin back and yelled at him in their native language before Amanda looked up when she felt a hand on her head and saw a pair of frightened blue eyes looking at her.

"Don't move… we don't know what else is broken." Finn said quietly as Amanda tried to sit up.

"Can't… feel my arm…" Amanda managed to say once there was air in her lungs again. "It's really bad this time…" She said as tears trailed down her face and the medical team reached them.

Another familiar face became visible, one of the paramedics she had known for years…

"David…" Amanda whispered, the raven haired grey eyed older man setting the neck brace around her and securing it before her arm and hand were braced… but there was someone she couldn't see as she looked around. "Where's… Livi?"

"In the backstage area, Hunter's trying to keep her from running out here…" David answered as Amanda let out a pain filled scream when she was turned onto her left side before she was placed onto the backboard and strapped to it, tears running down her face as she felt Finn's right hand wrap around her left one after she was on the stretcher and it was pulled up until it locked.

The ringside area was crowded, everyone completely forgetting about the match and Stephanie reaching the ringside area, shoving several superstars out of her way and running to the woman she loved like a niece.

"It's her arm, isn't it?!" Stephanie asked.

"And who knows what else, we've got to get her out of here…" David answered before Amanda was taken away, Finn staying by the left side of the gurney and Stephanie running to keep up with them.

The paramedics weren't even gonna try to keep either away… when they reached the backstage area of the Amway Centre, Liviana was in a sobbing fit.

"I… I'm so… so fucking stupid!" Liviana yelled through her hands covering her face.

"Livi, you had no idea that the barricade would break!" Hunter said, his hands cradling her face when her arms dropped to her sides, Hunter holding her like a parent would do for a distraught child.

"Her arm… it nearly snapped off her body, Hunter…" Liviana sobbed.

Amanda wasn't trying to get off the gurney as she was put in the ambulance, Finn still by her side and her looking at him.

"Do I… even need to ask… where he is?" Amanda said as she saw Liviana before the doors closed.

"He nearly killed you… I tried to beat him to death…" Finn answered, resting his right hand on the left side of Amanda's face and keeping her left hand in his own.

Amanda looked up enough to see Liviana, mouthing ' _Don't blame yourself… I'll heal.'_ before the ambulance sirens started and she was taken away _._

Liviana headed down the hallway as Hunter was now consoling Stephanie… reaching the locker room, she pushed the door open and immediately ducked and jumped out of the way as Kevin was trashing the locker room in his rage.

"The barrier was secure, we watched them set it up! I swear, I never intended for it to break!" Kevin yelled.

"And I had no idea that my alterations to the timeline would make you break her through the barrier!" Liviana shouted, Kevin stopping and looking at her.

"Time alterations? You were trying to prevent… damn it. I don't blame you one bit, she's had some bad injuries in her career…" Kevin said quietly as he sat down. "But I still hurt her…" He said as he started crying, Liviana sitting down next to him.

"Mandy told me that… there have been some terrifying things that have happened in this kind of match and others. I got curious, that's how this started…" Liviana said.

"Then you saw her getting injured…" Kevin said, Liviana nodding.

"I hopped to tonight and saw her being thrown across the ring and hitting her head on the barrier post, causing her to be sidelined for a whole 7 months as it fractured her skull and coma hit her for the first three weeks… I tried to stop it by weakening the barrier's design, so that when she hit it, she'd collapse it and only end up with a concussion… inadvertently, one event led to another and you changed your position, sent her into it sideways instead… so all I've done is make the injury a worse one, from cracking the skull to practically crushing the arm." Liviana explained.

"You were trying to prevent more seizures… she's had concussions, she's seen how they've changed people's behavior… she swore that she didn't want that." Kevin managed to say, the two standing up. "There's gonna be a way to fix this in some time… but right now, we need to go see her." He said before they left.

At the ER in Florida Hospital, a sedated Amanda was trying to process what she had been told by the doctor… pins and rods to put the bones back together, extensive rehab… she was looking at part of the year out.

When it finally hit her, she just broke down in Finn's arms as he held her… when she stopped crying, she looked up at him.

"Tonight was supposed to be different… I had that match won, I could feel it… I let everyone down…" Amanda said as Finn brushed her tears away.

"No… I let _you_ down." The two heard just as Finn was about to speak, seeing Liviana in the doorway. "I tried to save you from an injury… all I did was fail and make events worse."

"How bad would've…" Amanda tried to ask… but she could tell. "My head? Livi, you prevented that… I'm not gonna give in from this." She said as the two hugged.

"It wasn't the head injury itself that persuaded me… but rather that fact that two years from now, the lurking damage would've led to you collapsing in a stroke midway through your first return to full size events, I couldn't have…" Liviana said, stopping herself. "I didn't mean for any of this, I swear. I thought I narrowed it to you merely ending up with a concussion, I didn't count on it somehow linking to an event that made Kevin change how he threw you."

"People are thrown the wrong way at times… too much force used, this is a dangerous business. No one could've ever imagined anything." Finn said after Liviana helped place Amanda into a more comfortable position on the gurney.

Five months, Amanda was looking at for the earliest possibility… she had come back from a broken sternum in six weeks when she was supposed to be out for three months.

" _Never let anything beat you down, little one."_

Those words would always stay with her.


	2. The Start To The Long Road

Minutes stretched into hours as everyone had gathered around in anywhere in the OR waiting room they could find… Sami and Liara looked at each other and back at Finn.

"He's been standing there since they took her in…" Sami said quietly, Liara knowing that it was true.

Separating Finn and Amanda was the glass to the viewing room of the OR, the 34 year old having not taken his eyes off the 25 year old who was out from the anesthetic as the surgeons were patching her shoulder, arm, hand, fingers and thumb back together.

Liara looked around, seeing Ty drinking his fifth cup of espresso, Wayne pacing back and forth and most of the other familiar faces… but Liviana was nowhere.

"Where's Livi?" Liara asked.

"Good… good notice…" Wayne said, stopping his walking.

"I saw her earlier… she said some weird stuff, like that I may not see her again for a while." Enzo said.

"She wouldn't just leave…" Liara started to say, trailing off.

She started to look around when she stopped, thinking.

' _Damn it… where the hell would she have gone? Or when instead of where?'_

It was another four hours before Amanda had woken up, her mind a blur… she at first thought it had been a nightmare but then she saw an exhausted Finn sitting by her.

"How long… did it take them?" Amanda asked, able to move her fingers slightly in the stormy blue cast… the x ray in the ER had shown only fractured knuckles and not completely broken as initially suspected.

"Nearly 5 hours to fix your arm…" Finn answered, trailing off and Amanda knew why.

"Liviana took off…" Amanda said quietly.

"Wayne saw her and she said something about not being seen for a while… then she's just gone." Finn said.

Amanda wanted to scream, wanted to sit up, wanted to go looking for Liviana… but her whole body was numb from being still for so long, soft braces on her legs and her feeling the slight vibration from them.

She remembered waking up nearly two years ago with them on her legs and hated them… but she had no energy to even try to remove them and Finn carefully pulled her into his arms, her head resting on his right shoulder.

"We have to find her…" Amanda whispered.

"We will… but it'll have to be when you're able to walk without getting tired or feeling pain, love." Finn said as they looked at each other.

"She's exiling herself…" Amanda said quietly as Finn lightly stroked her hair.

"She feels horrid to herself… but we'll find her, in time." Finn replied.

Amanda nodded and glanced up at the Tv, seeing a news report of what had happened at the Royal Rumble and looked away as she saw the replay, Finn changing the channel.

"Why can't a fucking news station report anything else?" Amanda muttered angrily as John walked in with some of the others following him.

Any other time, John would have told Amanda to not curse… but he knew her frustration, she wanted to heal from her injury in peace and the media wouldn't give her that privacy now. Walking over, John rested his left hand on his sister's back and she looked up at him, John kissing Amanda on her forehead.

Out in the hallway, Ty had finally crashed out from lack of sleep and JJ was putting a blanket on the younger man.

"This is all insane enough… and now Livi disappears." Ty said, slowly scratching his left shoulder.

"We'll find her… but we can't leave Mandy right now." JJ said as Ty struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Did Seth say when his flight was getting to the airport? What about Mandy's parents and brothers?" Ty asked.

"It's gonna be a while… come on, close your eyes. She's not gonna get up out of that bed and make a break for it." JJ answered.

Ty nodded and closed his eyes, JJ sitting down and putting his head in his hands… before hearing footsteps.

"Where is she?"

JJ looked and saw Roman's and Galina's daughter, Joelle.

"Daddy and Mommy won't tell me where Livi went to…" Joelle said, JJ picking her up and putting her in his lap.

"Lil' kiddo… all of this going on has hit her badly, so she's gone away to try and come to terms with it on her own. We'll find her soon, don't worry." JJ responded.

"I hope so… is Aunt Mandy awake?" Joelle said as she brushed her tears away.

"Let's go see her." JJ replied, standing up with Joelle in his arms and taking her into the room.

"Jojo…" Amanda said, smiling when she saw her goddaughter and her and Joelle hugging before Joelle saw the signatures on Amanda's cast.

Stepping outside into the freezing weather, Bayley took only seconds before sitting down on the concrete and putting her head in her hands, sobbing… she was letting it all out, she didn't notice the hand on her left shoulder until she looked up when Sami sat down and took her into his arms.

"That could've killed her, Sami… we all forget how little Mandy is, her neck could've been broken from the blow she took." Bayley said through her tears, her arms slowly wrapping around Sami.

"It's the risk we all take in this work, and Livi couldn't have realised that she'd cause this…" Sami said, seeing a slight confusion to that behind the tears in Bayley's eyes and explaining what Kevin had told him earlier, while Amanda had been on the operation table. "Livi went back and altered events, originally Mandy would've cracked her skull on the barrier so she went and weakened the thing's design so that when she hit it, it'd break and not cause too much damage… inadvertently, she also caused Kevin to alter his position and throw Mandy differently."

"She had no idea… I think in some way, Kevin was trying to prevent Mandy from another head injury." Bayley said quietly as she rested her head on Sami's shoulder.

 **136 years earlier…**

' _This is quiet enough.'_ Liviana thought as she sat down on the sand… she looked around, seeing the ocean.

She would go back to 2016 when she was ready… but right now, isolation from technology and the modern world stress was what she wanted.


	3. Rarities

_**9/9/15, Rhode Island…**_

 _The crashing of the water against the shore was normally soothing but not this time…_

 _Amanda Rose Cena was never one to admit that it was all catching up with her until it was too late. In her younger years, she sometimes felt like she wasn't listened to whenever she would vent… so she started bottling up her stresses, negative thoughts and problems._

 _Footsteps were heard walking to her… she knew them and didn't need to look up._

 _But she did anyway and her tired hazel eyes looked into the equally tired but still bright blue ones of the NXT Champion… her and Finn had known each other for just a little over a year but they had a strong bond._

" _Hey… I thought you were asleep." Amanda said, knowing that Finn had followed her to the beach in the darkened night._

" _I woke up… realised that you weren't there. Was it all too much tonight?" Finn responded after sitting down, resting his right hand on her left arm and lightly running his fingers along her silky soft skin._

" _We've all been caught up in the Dusty Rhodes classic… sometimes I just… it does get to be too much." Amanda answered, readjusting her disheveled ponytail. "He's not here anymore… neither is Roddy and it feels so damn wrong. For as long as I can remember, they were there in some way whether I was watching them on Tv or being there to talk to them."_

" _Everyone will go one day, Mandy… and everyone else will think exactly the same as you are now." Finn said, his hand near hers now and his fingers lightly brushing over the back of her palm and Amanda's slender fingers curling slightly until they curled around his hand and he squeezed her smaller one._

" _They're never truly gone…" Amanda said quietly before both saw a brief flash of violet from the lighthouse in the distance. "What the hell?" She muttered as they stood up. "What was that? Are we just seeing things?"_

 _Amanda attempted to walk to where the boats were, Finn stopping her by taking her right hand into his left one and the fingers on their left and right hands entwining._

" _It's too dark to see where you'll be driving towards…" Finn said._

" _But something's out there and the lighthouse lights are normally white, not violet." Amanda said, thinking someone might've been stranded._

 _The light appeared again, closer this time._

" _Finn, there's something out there!" Amanda said… and now, Finn agreed._

 _Just as they stepped down onto the small jetty where several boats were moored, the third flash shined over them… and this time, they heard it being accompanied by a banshee-like scream for as long as the light was there._

 _Amanda screamed and jumped back, her and Finn hanging onto each other and their left and right hands entwined as his right hand rested on her back._

" _Call the Coastguard?" Amanda questioned._

 _The two did so but no one was found… heading back to the hotel, they sat down on the bed in their room._

" _I guess we really were just seeing things…" Amanda said quietly._

 _Little did they know what they had seen…_

 **Present time…**

It was nearly a week before Amanda was out of the hospital and attempting to dry off after a shower but wasn't having much success with the cast covered by a garbage bag and was letting the occasional curse word out… until the door opened and she saw Finn.

"I wouldn't normally ask but…" Amanda started to say, trailing off slightly as Finn helped her into the room and helped her sit down, Amanda having only managed to cover herself with the first towel by pure luck. "Don't even have to ask…" She said as he dried her legs and left arm off before towel drying her hair and then removing the garbage bag.

She was glad that Natalya had talked her into laser hair removal three weeks ago, Amanda didn't want to injure herself even further by trying to shave to remove the stubborn hairs.

"You've got a broken limb, it's gonna be some time before you get back to doing most things for yourself, Mandy." Finn said as he tossed the bag away before pulling her hair back and securing it with one of the ponytail holders Bayley had picked up for Amanda.

Amanda was able to pull on a pair of satin hiphugger panties, a black slightly oversized tank top and grey flannel pajama shorts after the towels were set aside, her broken arm propped up on a few pillows.

She tried to distract herself by sorting through some DvDs, looking for one to watch… but Finn could tell that she was starting to go stir crazy and missing Liviana, Finn stretching out next to Amanda.

"Wait, what the…" Amanda started to ask as she felt Finn's left arm wrap around her and his fingers tickle her side. "That's not gonna work this time…" She said, trying not to laugh.

"Well we could go sneak into a building like we did that one time." Finn said jokingly.

Amanda couldn't fight a chuckle that time and Finn saw a faint smile emerge onto her face.

But he was missing hearing her laugh… being as careful as he could, he trailed his fingers up her left hip.

Amanda bit down on her lower lip at the subtle tickling, suppressing a slight giggle.

"Cut that out, Finn…" Amanda said as she playfully swatted his left arm and he let a small smile slip through.

Finn stopped, lowering his hand and Amanda turned back to the Tv… but then she felt his fingers running through the ends of her tousled hair, giving a slight tug like a schoolboy on the playground who liked a girl.

Amanda laughed for a few seconds and turned to him, her hand resting on his wrist.

"You're not gonna give up anytime soon until there's a smile completely back on my face…" Amanda said quietly.

"Nope… laughter and happiness is the best medicine." Finn replied, Amanda giving him a slight pout.

But it faltered and she smiled anyway… with her on the main roster and him in NXT, moments like these were rare.

But she knew Hunter wasn't going to clear her to travel out of Florida anytime soon…


	4. Don't Lose Yourself

_**9/17/15, Orlando…**_

 _Amanda wasn't sure when she fell asleep… but the Legos covering her, she knew who they belonged to and he was watching her and smiled when he saw her half open eyes._

" _Really, Finn? Bury me in Legos?" Amanda said, unable to contain a laugh despite the case of strep throat that she had._

 _Finn had convinced her to take some time off and give herself the rest she needed… but while she was sleeping, he found himself bored and then saw the silver and grey blocks from the Star Wars Legos collection that Amanda had bought for him last Christmas._

" _I got bored…" Finn said, resting his hand on Amanda's forehead._

" _How long was I out?" Amanda asked as she looked around, vaguely remembering something about Liviana going to look for some kind of remedy that would work faster than the antibiotics… but Liviana wasn't back yet and Amanda was starting to shiver again._

" _A few hours… I don't know what's going on, I think she might've ran into trouble." Finn answered, taking the Legos off of Amanda and taking her upstairs, tucking her into the bed._

 _Amanda fell back asleep and Finn walked downstairs, seeing Liviana walk in._

" _She's upstairs, fell back asleep. Any luck with that remedy?" Finn said quietly._

" _I found a way to make a sort of antibiotic booster. Splits the molecules of it so it doubles in the amount it can get at once." Liviana answered._

" _Thanks. I'm gonna head back upstairs and check on her." Finn said, heading back upstairs and Liviana seeing the assorted Legos and smiling slightly._

 _When she was finished with the booster, she headed upstairs and saw a half awake Amanda look at her through feverish eyes. Sitting down, Liviana helped Amanda sit up and Amanda saw the syringe._

" _It's okay… just hold still." Liviana said, injecting the booster into Amanda's right arm._

" _Thank you…" Amanda said as she started feeling sleepy again, Finn helping her lie back down._

" _Has a mild sedative effect… works better with your eyes closed." Liviana explained._

 _Amanda closed her eyes, settling into sleep…_

 **Present time…**

She was out again and Finn knew that from the snoring, Finn carefully propping Amanda's broken arm back up on the pillows and knowing what she was thinking… she was hoping Liviana would come back okay.

"I miss her too, Mandy…" Finn whispered before seeing Liara in the doorway.

"There's someone outside, looking for Livi… didn't give much other than her name, Gen." Liara said quietly before they headed downstairs.

"Did Gen say where Livi would go to in times like these?" Finn asked.

"Back into the past… she did it before." Liara responded.

Amanda pulled herself up sleepily and wandered to the window, looking out it after opening her eyes… she didn't want to admit she was angry even though it was at herself. She closed her eyes and let the tears that had been burning them fall, ignoring the footsteps… even when she felt Finn's arms wrap around her, she didn't open her eyes… but she reached her right hand up and squeezed his right one when it rested on her left shoulder.

"Hey… this ain't your fault, these things happen. You'll be back to normal before you know it." Finn whispered, kissing Amanda on the side of her head as she opened her eyes.

"I hate feeling down…" Amanda said quietly as she felt Finn brush her tears away.

"I know, love." Finn responded before both saw Genesis and she explained that Liviana had disappeared before.

"She comes back though… she's never gone for good." Genesis said.

 _ **A few weeks later, WWE Performance Centre…**_

Amanda had just finished her physical therapy session and felt a sense of pride… she had gotten great news the week prior, she no longer had to wear the cast but still had to wear a brace at times.

"TakeOver and Wrestlemania are coming up soon… I can finally move my arm around again. Mom, I'm not pushing myself too hard, don't…" Amanda said, holding her phone to her left ear until she felt a hand tap her shoulder, turned and saw Cody. "I'll call you back." She said before hanging up and setting her phone aside in the locker room.

"Talk to Hunter again about this. I should be on the main show, not the kick-off!" Cody replied, Amanda turning a bit startled.

"I can try but he and creative agreed on it… you have a match at least, I'm not gonna be cleared to compete til June at the earliest." Amanda said.

"You're booked for both events, how is that fair?!" Cody yelled.

"I'm not gonna get into this with you, I have a friend I'm trying to get to come back! If you're truly this damn bitter, ask to be released from your contract and then leave!" Amanda responded, grabbing her things but Cody grabbed her by her right wrist and threw her against the lockers.

But before Cody could throw a punch, he was tackled and Amanda looked and saw Finn repeatedly punching Cody. He wasn't aiming anywhere specifically, just anywhere he could hurt him… the only reason Finn stopped was because Amanda rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Calm down…" Amanda said, resting her hands on Finn's wrists now. "It's done, he's down." She whispered, Finn nodding and kissing her on her forehead before both saw Cody pull himself up.

"Get on outta here." Finn growled at the younger man, Cody limping out before Finn helped Amanda sit down, removed her brace off her arm and checked it for bruises that weren't from the initial injury.

"The pins and rods in it still feel weird…" Amanda said absentmindedly. "Finn, you scared me a bit… you were gonna kill him."

"You've been harmed enough, Mandy, the first punch that hit you out of the ring was one punch too many." Finn responded. "And it takes time to adapt to these things. Bodies weren't meant to be even surgically corrected, let alone done so with other, foreign items."

"Hey…" Amanda said, getting Finn to look at her. "I'm doing better than I was in January… I can move it again without a cast. I just… I wish the others would calm down."

"They see you as fragile." Finn said.

"Cody sees me as a bitch. I tried to help but once the creative decisions are final, that's it." Amanda responded as she slowly stretched her fingers and lightly brushing her left hand over Finn's right one, which was bruising. "Be honest with me about it… please."

"I feel like I just caved his face in… after he had grabbed you, it felt good to do that." Finn replied.

At the same time, Cody stopped to lean against the wall before he saw Dustin.

"What in hell's name happened to you, little brother, you run right into a buzzsaw?" Dustin asked.

"The NXT Champ needs anger management!" Cody growled.

"Finn?! Why did he beat you to a pulp, he rarely gets that pissed." Dustin responded.

"He saw me grab Mandy and went berserk, like she's some glass doll that needs to be protected 24/7!" Cody responded.

"Cody, she's recovering from a badly broken arm and will have those pins and rods in it for the rest of her life, what the hell's the matter with you?!" Dustin replied, anger lacing his voice.

"That injury wouldn't have happened if Livi hadn't altered the timeline or if Mandy had stayed out of the rumble match but no, she felt like she had something to prove!" Cody yelled.

"Don't you ever say it's either of their fault! Mandy took up the opportunity, she doesn't hesitate to do that. And as for Livi, we can't possibly begin to understand how her time travel works and what happens with it, if and why points get altered!" Dustin responded.

Cody stormed off and Dustin found Finn and Amanda, who looked at him.

"You don't want to know right now, kids." Dustin said, Finn and Amanda looking at each other.

They were feeling nervous enough with Wrestlemania nearing.


End file.
